Within 24-hours of each other, Nanaimo RCMP says that three separate bear spray incidents happened which are now thought to be related.
On Monday, April 29th, police say that the three incidents all involved three “young persons” assaulting adults with either bear spray, a metal baton, and in one incident, a knife.
All three victims required medical attention for their wounds.
As for the victims, investigators say that two were unhoused residents and the third was a local businessman.
Thus far, police have no suspects in their investigation and are seeking the public’s assistance in finding the perpetrators.
The first incident
Just after midnight on April 29th, near the corner of Dufferin Crescent and Grant Avenue, an unhoused man was pushing a shopping cart and was with a woman when he was attacked, according to Nanaimo RCMP.
The unhoused man reported that two unknown people approached from Dufferin School wearing dark clothes.
Police say the man was then attacked with bear spray and struck with a metal baton by the two suspects.
Paramedics transported him to hospital and he was treated for a broken arm and for the bear spray.
According to investigators, the woman who was with him was unharmed and the youths who allegedly committed this crime were not found.
Incident two
At around 1:30 a.m. on April 29th, the next incident took place when outside a supportive housing building in the 2600-block of Labieux Road, police say they arrived to find a man on the ground with a stab wound and suffering from a bear spray attack.
According to Nanaimo RCMP, the victim reported three suspects that he saw near the roundabout on Labieux Road. He told investigators all three youth suspects were boys.
The victim also reported to police that they were wearing dark clothing, balaclavas and they may have had darker complexion.
Following the attack, police say the three youths ran for the bike paths toward Highway 19A.
The victim was then taken to the hospital to be treated.
Incident three
At around 6:30 p.m. on April 29th, in the 3100-block of Island Highway, a local businessman who runs a chiropractic practice in Nanaimo told police he chased two youths out of his business because they were yelling obscenities at him.
While chasing them, he says that one turned around and sprayed him with bear spray.
He then reportedly stopped chasing them and was taken to the hospital to have his eyes treated.
The man described the two youths as being 14 to 16-years-old, with one suspect wearing a burgundy sweater and the other in a darker sweater.
“These incidents are all disturbing given the randomness of each and the violence involved,” said R/Cst Gary O’Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP.
“Additionally, given the ages of the suspects, the description provided by the victims and weapons used, it appears that all three attacks may have been carried out by the same individuals.”
Anyone who has information on any of these occurrences should call Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345.
